


In the Shadow of Vesuvius

by AXEe



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Historical, Ancient Rome, F/F, Gladiator J'onn, Infidelity, Noblewoman Astra, Pompeii, Slave girl Alex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-10-18 07:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10612593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the city of Pompeii under tons of ash, approximately 1.500 died as a resultTwo didn'tThis is their story...





	1. Prologue: Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Here's another General Danvers AU from me, this time we're going historical! That's right you read the title and the tags right, its Alex and Astra transported to ancient Rome, or in this case, Pompeii. This story was born out of my love of history and from watching one too many BBC docudramas on the destruction of Pompeii, like it tell me about it, don't like it, that's not your fault
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

_”Broad sheets of flame were lighting up many parts of Vesuvius; their light and brightness were more the vivid for the darkness of the night…it was daylight elsewhere in the world, but there the darkness was thicker and darker than night”_

**\--Pliny the Younger, describing the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD**

******

The ground shook again, roof tiles fell onto the street. All around them people panicked, some fell to their knees praying to the gods, others wept, crying out that the gods had forsaken them, while others merely clutched the person closest to them. Amidst this chaos and turmoil, Alexandra clutched Astra’s hand tightly, pulling the older woman through the crowded streets

“We need to find shelter!” she hollered over the baying of the crowd, the noble woman turned to stare at her, eyes wide and, yes, frightened “Astra!” she tugged harder on the other woman’s hand, startling her

“Go,” she said suddenly, dropping her hand “go!” she repeated urgently

“No, I’m not leaving you” Alexandra insisted

“You have no further obligation to me,” Astra countered “you are free, I release you from my service” Alexandra slowly nodded

“Good,” she swung out her fist, soundly catching Astra across the jaw, throwing her to the ground where lay, stunned “up, Roman!” Alexandra snarled as she roughly and unceremoniously picked up the other woman and slung her across her shoulders like the sacks of grain that the other household slaves had been carrying only hours earlier. Grunting under the weight of the other woman, she pushed through the crowd, spotting a familiar figure in the distance “J’ONN!!” she bellowed “J’ONN J’ONZZ!!” the gladiator turned, pushing his own way through the crowd towards her, but before he could reach her a sharp pain suddenly pierced her side. Crying out, she fell to the ground, dropping Astra’s still-limp form, groaning she weakly rolled over, seeing Non standing above her, a sword in his hand

“I do not know which offends me more,” he began “my wife’s betrayal, or that she dared to betray me with a _barbarous, willful slave!!!_

“Are you mad?!” Alexandra demanded “look around you, Non! Look at the sky! Look at the mountain! The gods have forsaken Pompeii! And yet you care more for your selfish pride?!”

“My pride is all I have left” Non rasped, raising the sword high. She looked around, Astra still lay in the dirt, dazed, and J’onn J’onzz still struggled to push his way through the crowd.

And all around them Pompeii shook and trembled as fire and rock spat forth from Vesuvius…


	2. Auction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Warning mention of slavery, now keep in mind to the ancient Romans slavery was as normal as the light bulb is to us, even to us slavery is horrific and awful (rightly so), but to the Romans it was normal and actually in some ways expected.
> 
> Anyway, rant over, enjoy!

******

**Pompeii, 79 AD**   
**Three months earlier…**

Alexandra grunted as she shuffled forward towards her place on the dais, the plague hung around her neck—which was all she wore—proclaimed her age, her origin, intelligence, and education. Once she had been nothing more than a farmer, helping her father till the fields in Gaul, but now her father was dead, killed by the armies of Rome, and she was now a slave being solid at auction

She didn’t know where her mother was

Looking around, she saw that she was one of only two slaves up for auction, the other was a tall, broad-chested African, possibly a Nubian or a Thracian, he held himself proudly, perhaps he was a chieftain, some ruler who had been captured by the Romans? He glanced her way

“Stand up straight, girl,” he barked in somewhat accented Latin “you may be a slave but you still have your pride,” he added, despite his guff tone there was kindness in his words. She straightened her back, standing tall “good, good,” the African rumbled “they’ll make a legionnaire out of you yet” he chucked, she risked a glance at the quaestor, the Roman fiscal official, but he seemed more interested in tallying up the money he would get than on what the slaves were doing

“Who are you?” she asked finally asked

“I am J’onn J’onzz,” the African answered, he said it as if the name alone should hold some glimmer of recognition for her “I was the leader of my people until these Roman butchers came” he stiffened suddenly, focusing on a man who seemed to be interested in him in seconds he had been bought and was being lead down off the dais. He glanced back at Alexandra as he was lead away, something like recognition, perhaps she reminded him of someone, a wife, a daughter.

She turned back to the crowd, noting that with the African now bought and sold most had seemed to have departed. Only a handful remained, of which only two—a man and woman—seemed to be actually bidding on her.

It was the woman who caught her attention. She was tall, almost as tall as the man next to her (presumably her husband), her height made all the more apparent by how she held herself, tall and proud and regal and for a moment Alexandra wondered if she was a solider, as absurd as that thought was, no woman fought in the armies of Rome, or in any army for that matter. But what caught Alexandra’s attention the most was the long streak of white in her long dark hair

“Sold!” she jerked as gavel crashed down. In a flurry of activity, she was hauled down off the dais, the plague removed from her neck, and shackles were being placed on her wrists

“Wait,” the woman called out, her voice firm and strong “there is no need for that,” the guard frowned and looked towards her husband for help. Sighing, the man nodded and the shackles were removed “and her something to wear,” the woman added “I’ll not parade the poor creature through the streets nude like some animal”

“Astra…” her husband growled, but the woman paid him no heed

“Here,” she unfastened her cloak and draped it over Alexandra’s shoulders, offering her some modesty “is that better?” she asked, and she seemed to genuinely want to know. Dimly, Alexandra nodded, not sure if she was allowed to speak, even as she became lost in the woman’s grey-green eyes. They were fierce eyes, intelligent eyes, the eyes of a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it “come along” the woman spoke as she turned and followed her husband through the crowd towards a horse drawn cart

To where she did not know…

******

The cart soon pulled in front of a stately villa. It was by no means the largest villa in Pompeii, but it was fairly decent-sized, having an oddly comforting feel it. The interior was decorated in lovely mosaics and frescos, that like the exterior, their simplicity somehow made them more inviting. Looking around, Alexandra saw that the man had swiftly disappeared, leaving her alone with the woman

"Sit down," the woman, Astra her mind supplied, gestured to a chair in the near center of the room, by a small fountain "sit down," she repeated, more firmly when Alexandra stood there, nodding in quiet satisfaction when Alexandra sat "now then, you _do_ speak, I hope?" she clenched her jaw at the sarcasm in the woman's tone

"Yes," she growled out in Latin "I speak" the woman chuckled

"And a fiery one at that," she tisked "careful, brave one, my husband doesn't like it when his slaves talk back. In fact he doesn't like it when they talk at all," she sat down across from her "now then, my niece, Kara, requires a tutor," she began "your duties here will be to teach her the mores of a proper Roman woman. Carry out your duties well and you will be treated well"

"My father was killed by Romans" Alexandra said, not really caring if such disobedience earned her a beating. The woman seemed unconcerned with it however

"How old were you?" she asked instead

"Nineteen years of age" the woman nodded

"Only a year ago," she reasoned, she sighed as she stood up "we are not monsters," she said as she turned, gesturing for Alexandra to follow her, which she did "and you are not the only one to face loss"

"What could _you_ have lost, Roman?" she sneered, the woman seemed to sag

"My sister," she answered quietly "she died in a fire, my niece is all that I have left of her," she gestured to a doorway "you will start your duties now. Kara is in the garden," she gripped Alexandra's arm when she tried to move past her "harm my niece in anyway, slave, and I will bring down the full fury of the gods upon your head," she warned, she dropped Alexandra's hand "you may go" with that she turned and left, disappearing into the depths of the villa...


	3. The niece and the slave girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex meets Kara and someone else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update time! Enjoy! :=)

******

Before she could meet Kara, Alexandra needed clothes, fortunately, someone, presumably the lady Astra, had remembered this as well and another slave soon ushered her into the slave quarters and gave her a simple linen tunic and sandals. Once dressed, she was directed to the gardens, which as it turned out, appeared to be a small vineyard and olive grove, large enough to support the villa itself but no more than that.

Sitting on a bench, Alexandra found a young girl with blonde hair apparently daydreaming, the girl looked up at her footfalls, she appeared to be the same age as Alexandra, if not a few years younger, her bright blue eyes matched the deep blue toga she wore, she smiled at Alexandra warmly

“Hello,” she greeted “are you new? I haven’t seen you around the villa before”

“Yes, I’m new,” Alexandra answered, finding herself returning the smile “I am Alexandra, your aunt tells me I’m to be your tutor” she explained, the girl pouted

“I don’t want another tutor” she whined

“Well, what _do_ you want?” Alexandra wondered, the girl’s eyes lit up

“I want to see the world,” she began “I want to fight monsters, like Hercules, or Orion the Hunter,” her face fell suddenly “when I was little my aunt used to tell me stories like that, but after my mother died…,” she shook her head sadly “no more stories” Alexandra felt herself ache for this girl, she had probably been young when her mother died

“I lost my father last year,” she began, sitting down next to Kara “he was killed by the Roman army”

“Then you must hate me” Kara sighed

“No,” Alexandra shook her head “I don’t hate you, how can I? I hardly know you”

“But,” Kara sniffled “you’re a slave, you probably captured and sold by the army”

“I was, yes,” Alexandra nodded “but I don’t blame you personally, your aunt treated me quite well when she and your uncle bought me, she even gave me her cloak so that I wouldn’t have to walk through the streets naked” Kara chuckled

“That sounds like Aunt Astra”

“Kara,” they both turned to see another slave girl standing in the entranceway “it’s getting late, your aunt wishes you to continue the lesson inside” she explained, Kara nodded

“All right, thank you Lucinda,” she stood up and hurried inside, her steps light, as if she was floating across the ground, Alexandra moved to follow her, coming up short as the other slave gripped her arm tightly

“She’s very fragile,” she warned “don’t break her”

“I won’t” Alexandra swore, the girl’s blue eyes bore into her, despite her smaller height she carried herself stiffly, like a solider, like Astra did

“See that you don’t” she finally grumbled releasing Alexandra’s arm and walking away

“You’ll have to forgive her,” Astra’s voice said from the hall, the other woman stood silhouetted in the lamplight, the streak of white in her hair glowing gold “Lucinda was sold into slavery because she couldn’t pay her debts, her father is a general in the army, but was too busy with his campaign to help her, so she resents her status and place here now, even though we treat her well, as we treat all our slaves”

“Why does she dislike me?” Alexandra wondered

“She cares for Kara,” Astra explained “I daresay she might even love her,” the noblewoman shrugged “if you wish, I will assign another else to assist you with tutoring Kara”

“No,” Alexandra shook her head “thank you”

“You’re welcome,” Astra nodded “if you have nothing to teach Kara for the day you may take you evening meal” with that she turned on her heel and marched away

Leaving Alexandra mesmerized…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name 'Lucinda' is the ancestor of the name 'Lucile' which of course is often shortened to 'Lucy', so three guesses as to who Lucinda is supposed to be :=)


	4. Scribe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back! Ha! You'd thought I'd forgotten about this one didn't you? :=) well, I didn't, so enjoy this update :=)

******

After taking her evening meal, Alexandra was directed to the slave quarters. Finding an empty room, she ducked inside, finding Lucinda already there

“What do you want?” the other woman demanded

“To sleep” Alexandra answered; Lucinda merely grunted and nodded towards a small bed in the corner, one of two. As Alexandra laid down on what she now knew would be her bed she looked up at Lucinda, wondering about this woman, who—in some ways—fascinated her far more than Astra

“Avoid Non” Lucinda said suddenly as she began to put out the lamps, her back to Alexandra

“What?” Alexandra asked, sitting up slightly

“Non,” Lucinda repeated “lady Astra’s husband, avoid him at all costs,” she warned “he does not treat his slaves well,” she slid her tunic off, revealing a series of crisscrossing scars along her back. Alexandra swallowed as she realized that the other woman had been flogged at some point for some infraction. Slowly, Lucinda turned to face her “avoid Non” she repeated as she blew out the last lamp, plunging the room into darkness…

******

The next morning, Alexandra woke early, noticing that Lucinda was already gone. Splashing some water on her face, she dressed in her tunic and sandals and moved out into the villa at large, heading towards the main part of the complex

“Excuse me,” she stopped another slave as he passed “where is Kara?”

“The lady Kara has already left today to go to the market,” he answered “only Mistress Astra remains”

“Could you direct me to Mistress Astra then?”

“Down back there,” he pointed behind him in the direction he was coming from “you will usually find her in her chambers at this time”

“Thank you”

Moving down the corridor as directed, she quickly found the room indicated. Knocking once, she heard Astra’s voice call out from within, biding her entrance

“Ah, Alexandra,” Astra greeted her as she slipped inside “how are you this morning?”

“Fine, thank you,” Alexandra answered “I was hoping to continue my duties of tutoring Kara today…” she began, Astra chuckled

“I’m afraid my niece has a terrible habit of not being able to sit still,” she said “she rose this morning and left almost as soon as she finished her morning meal, taking Lucinda with her”

“And your husband?” Alexandra wondered, Astra smirked

“I see Lucinda has been talking again,” she chuckled “my husband has left for the city today, he will not be back before nightfall, so do not worry”

“I see,” Alexandra nodded “and yourself?” she nodded towards the stacks of wax tablets strewn about the low desk that Astra sat before

“Ah, managing my business,” Astra explained “a simple clothing manufacturer,” she nodded to a nearby chair “come, sit with me, I could use the company”

Nodding, Alexandra pulled the chair over and sat down, watching Astra calculate her total profits

“That’s wrong,” she said suddenly, Astra frowned up at her, silently waiting for an explanation “you were paid four hundred and twenty on fifth day of last month, but yet your shop shows only an day’s earnings of one hundred” she explained

Astra frowned and looked down at the tablets, picking up the stylus, she quickly scratched out a simple equation

“That’s correct,” she announced “have you always been so well versed in mathematics?” she asked

“Somewhat,” Alexandra shrugged “it’s always come naturally to me” she admitted, Astra smirked and then silently held out the stylus and a tablet towards her

“I could make good use of a scribe to spot such oversights,” she offered “in addition to your tutoring of Kara”

“Of course” Alexandra nodded, taking the stylus and parchment from her…

******

They worked long into the mid-afternoon and well into the evening, only pausing to greet Kara and Lucinda as they returned from the market, arms overflowing with purchases (Non had yet to return home, and, according to Astra, most likely wouldn’t until daylight), but by day’s end they had distinct proof that someone within the clothing business was stealing from the coffers

“It must be Maximus,” Astra hissed “it must be”

“Who is Maximus?” Alexandra wondered

“He is the person responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business,” Astra growled “that disgusting little _barbarian!_ ” she spat as she paced the room “I’ll have his hide for this!”

“What do you plan on doing?” Alexandra wondered

“You shall see,” Astra growled “find me Lucinda” she ordered

Alexandra nodded, and quietly slipped out of the room and found Lucinda with Kara in the girl’s room, speaking in hushed, secretive tones

“Lucinda,” she called, startling the two “Astra wishes to see you” she announced, Lucinda scowled at the intrusion but hurried off after Alexandra back towards Astra’s chambers

“Ah, Lucinda, good,” Astra nodded as they entered “Alexandra you may go, I must speak to Lucinda privately” she instructed, Alexandra nodded, turning to leave, only to find Kara loitering in the corridor as she shut the door

“Is everything all right?” Kara asked worriedly “is Lucinda in trouble?”

“No,” Alexandra chuckled “no, no, she’s fine as far as I’m aware off”

Kara breathed a visible sigh of relief

“You missed your lesion today,” Alexandra pointed out “shall we continue?”

Kara smiled softly and nodded

******

Sometime later, Alexandra slipped into the bedchamber she shared with Lucinda, finding the other woman waiting for her

“Thank you,” she said, startling Alexandra “Maximus could have ruined Astra if his crime had continued”

“You’re welcome,” Alexandra nodded “what will happen to him?” she wondered

“He will most likely be taken before a magistrate where, if he rules in Astra’s favor, be required to pay back all that he stole” Lucinda explained

“Good” Alexandra nodded as she laid down on her simple bed

“Yes,” Lucinda agreed “good night”

“Good night”


End file.
